Money can buy you a nice house, a fast car, and it may just be able to buy you some good health. In fact a new study has just been done saying touching, thinking, or earning money can make us feel better. But I am going to dig deep into this study and see if that is truly the case.

In a paper published in the journal Psychological Science researchers have conducted many experiments to prove that touching money can not only reduce stress but also reduce pain. The first study involved 84 volunteers divided into two groups. One group counted out eighty $100 bills, while the second group counted paper. Next, they played a computer game called Cyberball in which four players passed a ball back and forth. The volunteers thought they were playing with three humans, but a computer actually simulated the other players. In half the games, all the players got the ball an equal number of times while the other games were rigged and excluded the players after 10 passes. Those who played the version of the game where they were excluded after ten passes said they felt cheated. According to he article, “on average, all the volunteers who handled the bills before playing reported a lower level of social distress than those who counted paper.” Overall this small experiment is telling us that after they played this rigged computer game those who handled the money were less stressed out when the game cheated them while those who did not count cash but counted the regular paper were more stressed out. This is pretty decent evidence but this study didn’t stop here

The next test was to test money and the effect it has on physical pain. 96 recruits were split into two groups and counted money or paper. Then an assistant strapped down their left hands and dipped their fingers in hot water with a temperature of 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius). The experiment concluded those who counted money rated their pain lower than those who counted paper. Being a well conducted experiment the researches found that maybe a cofounding bearable was the fact that the money laying on the table would of distracted the participants from the pain. This being said they repeated the experiment but this time without the bills. Instead, they asked half of the participants to write about their expenses in the past month and the other half wrote about the weather. Then they either played Cyberball or dipped their fingers in hot water. The participants reported that simply the idea of talking about there expenses and caused social distress. And it intensified the pain of the hot water and the anger that came from the cheated game.

According to University of Minnesota marketing professor and study co-author Kathleen Vohs,”These effects speak to the power of money, even as a symbol, to change perceptions of very real feelings. “People are constantly bombarded with the power of money and how wonderful your life can be if you have money, and how having it can change your life,” she says. Behind this theory that explains the benefits of touching money is that endorphins are released when associated with cash. Another idea behind this theory from behavioral psychologist Matt Wallaert, lead scientist at the free personal finance management site Thrive. “Money is not obscure when you are interacting with it; it feels very concrete,” he says. “When other things in your life feel out of control, and you go into a store and hand over money and they hand you something back, it makes people feel better.” This makes complete sense in my eyes. My sister has this exact issue. When she is down or just gets a bad grade on a test she hits the mall and buys something for herself. It makes her feel better and I am sure this goes for many people.

As for now this is the latest study conducted on this topic and it stands to show that there is a correlation between money and emotional and physical pain. Until more studies come out this is pretty concrete data. So next time you are feeling down open up your wallet and just count your bills, maybe you’ll feel better.